First Meeting of the SUSU International Science Council: Breakthrough Initiatives in Regional Development

On October 10th at South Ural State University, world-class researchers gathered to become acquainted with the university’s structure, its position in the educational system, and its prospects for future development.

In his opening words, university rector Aleksandr Shestakov thanked the guests for their participation in the International Science Council and told them about the goals standing before the university. Aleksandr Leonidovich noted that the university is aiming towards becoming an international center of education.

In the first part of their visit, the international specialists got to know the university’s leadership and studied background information about the South Ural region and SUSU. The members of the international council were told about the advantages of the Chelyabinsk region’s economy, the Russian academic system, and the faculties and divisions of the university. Researchers also gained information about the size of graduates’ salaries and the quantity of publications by university staff in Scopus. As part of the presentation it was specified which areas need special attention: increasing performance research indicators and creating an international reputation for the strongest university of the South Ural region. In addition, the potential for SUSU to become a world-class university was noted.

One of the reasons was the cooperative work between the university and industrial companies. As Aleksandr Shestakov underlined, education in the biggest university of the South Ural university is aimed at the practical realization of knowledge received.

During discussion, council member and president of Emerson, Eduard Monser noted this special quality of the university: “Our goal is to take technology from the audience to the world market to solve real issues of Russian companies. The most important thing is to apply theoretical knowledge to practice. SUSU is meeting this challenge successfully.”

The first part of the meeting ended with a presentation by Aleksandr Shestakov about university’s plans for development in the 5-100 Program. The rector noted the main areas of work, including a focus on breakthough initiatives, widening the geographical area from which students are attracted, and increasing employee’s professional level.

As a reminder, the first in-person meeting by SUSU’s International Council will last three days. As part of this visit to Chelyabinsk, the international researchers are doing open lectures for the city’s residents.